whatever. i think he had a good point about johansson. i'm still mystified by her performance in ghost world. i can't tell if it's brilliant or just a matter of perfect direction and script, and fitting the role.

She's definitely my favorite young actress working today, and I think I'd place her high (maybe top 5) of all actresses working today. And obviously I'll have to disagree with you, CSG. Her restrained performance in Ghost World is part of what makes it so accessible. Had anyone else played the part it would not have been as successful. Her performance in Lost in Translation is equally good, and so is the one in The Man Who Wasn't There, now that i think about it. I have yet to see Girl with a Pearl Earring, but either way I think there's enough evidense to at least say she's on her way to becoming a very talented actress.

Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary: the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

\"I wanted to make a film for kids, something that would present them with a kind of elementary morality. Because nowadays nobody bothers to tell those kids, \'Hey, this is right and this is wrong\'.\" - George Lucas